A wise man once said that resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Resentment, hatred, wrath. All very similar emotions, not identical but often appearing together.

From a biological level this has some basis in reality. Anger raises one's blood pressure, and this can have disastrous health consequences if you're not in very good health. For most people this means it's almost entirely bad. The increase in adrenalin can also have health consequences for those with pre-existing heart issues.

On a behavioral front, anger leads to rash actions. Important decisions are made without thought. Little thought is given to one's own wellbeing, even to the point of self-endangerment. Hatred leads to unhealthy devotion towards a single cause, causing the one holding a grudge to neglect more important tasks. It's this single-minded obsession that defines hatred, making it different from mere dislike. Only one who hates devotes so much time to the source of their desire.

That's not to say that anger has no purpose – it enhances one's sense of fairness, making it easier to tell if you're being cheated and more likely to act upon it. Anger can be fully warranted, and trying to suppress it can lead to major issues with emotional state.

But sustain your anger long enough and it becomes wrath. And there's a reason wrath is considered one of the deadly sins.

"Crai, I found another piece of balloon underneath the mattress."

"I quit!" Crai threw his hands up. "I'm not doing this anymore! I can't take it!"

The gardevoir stormed off, stomping as hard as he could as he went to his room. He didn't weigh enough for his footsteps to have much impact, which lessened the message, but it did nothing compared to the amusement that Crai emitted instead of frustration. The door slammed shut – or would have, if it hadn't stop just an inch short of closing in order to close safely.

Finn shrugged, a grin appearing on his face. He dropped the fragment of rubber – hopefully the last one – into the trash can. His pokémon were cleaning up the suite one last time before they left. Finn didn't want to leave the suite in a worse condition than he found it, even if there was basically nothing that he or his team could do about the garden. He also really didn't want to leave anything behind.

It had been three days since he told his pokémon that he was dying. They'd taken it well, honestly. They were sad, of course. But they'd recovered remarkably quickly. He had offered to release any of them that wanted it, and none had accepted. It was touching.

His time in Oplens had been pretty good, actually. Visiting with Uncle Daniel was good. Daniel was a lot of fun, and Finn enjoyed spending time with him and his pokémon. He hadn't seen Kasparov since the time the bisharp had come to visit, but he had been assured that Kas was being kept busy preparing for the inevitable visit of Team Plasma. Aside from that, there were a number of fun things for a trainer to do in Oplens, from the battle cafés to pokémon trivia tournaments. The rewards for both of these were mostly novelties, fun things to show off with no real use. Finn had put them in his bag then promptly forgotten about them.

All good things had to come to an end, though, and it was time to leave. Victory Road was infamously rough, and it was supposed to be a long and painful climb. Flight was a no-go in the area, since the mountain that the league HQ was built on was a dragon haven. But Finn had a plan, and flight was the only method of travel banned in that area. But first he had to get to Victory Road, and before he could do that he had to leave Oplens.

Finn took a look over the room one last time. "Alright everyone, time to go."

His pokémon gathered around, even Crai emerging from his room. Finn recalled them one by one, leaving only Athena at his side. With his stuff packed and his pokémon ready for travel, Finn headed to the elevator. He and Athena descended to the ground floor, where Finn checked out of the hotel. After the typical 'come again' and 'recommend us', he headed out down the road towards Victory Road.

From the edge of the city he could see the mountain on the horizon. It was called Dragon's Peak, for the population of dragon-type pokémon that called it home. Victory Road itself wound through a network of caves and tunnels as it climbed the mountain, many of those caves connected to the History Caverns beneath Toreta. The whole mountain was off-limits to anyone with less than eight gym badges, but that made it a training haven for those who called themselves ace trainers. Those good enough to complete the gym circuit but either not good enough or unwilling to challenge the elite four. It was common practice for ace trainers to challenge anyone and everyone they saw, since only trainers would actually be on Victory Road. Many of them lived on the mountain, using the center at the Pokémon League HQ near the peak to keep their pokémon healthy. It was a strange way to live, but it gained them quite a bit of prestige, especially since they often cleanly transitioned into successful careers as breeders.

Finn didn't have anything like that in mind. Especially given his time limit. He was going to get through Victory Road as quickly as possible, hopefully with no confrontation involved. And, if necessary, he was going to do it in a way that was only technically legal.

At the checkpoint on the edge of the city, Finn checked in to let them know he was heading towards Victory Road. After getting the customary warning about draconic presence, he left Oplens.

The area between Oplens and Dragon's Peak was a badlands of sorts. There were forests for the first day's worth of travel out of the city, before it changed into a craggy wasteland home to aggressive and dangerous species of pokémon. Most of the bisharp battalions in Toreta called that area home, along with at least three separate garchomps and their offspring. It still wasn't as dangerous as Victory Road itself, or the History Caverns, though.

The trip from the Oplens checkpoint to Victory Road was about three days of walking away, and then another day to climb the mountain to the League HQ. Finn started off, ready for his trek.

Things were uneventful for the first hour out, which is when things started to go wrong.

The first warning was when the hairs on the back of Finn's neck stood up. Something was watching him. Something other than Lumin. Finn came to a stop, Athena floating closer to be vigilant. He closed his eyes, borrowing Athena's senses.

Plants didn't have auras, which made it even easier to pick out oddities. There were many small auras – usually in a yellow/green coloration Finn associated with bug types. As Athena looked around, Finn saw what was out of place: situated just off the path behind Finn behind the tree line and moving closer was a human aura. Finn had seen odd auras through Athena's eyes before, most notably his own mother who had a steel-type affinity. His own aura was another such example. But the human aura Athena could see was more like Finn's and less like his mother's. Flashes of red arced through the normal blue, flickering and waving like flames.

Finn opened his eyes, turning around and placing one hand on Athena's hilt. He was ready.

From the foliage emerged a young man, about Finn's age. A tall, well-built individual with a head of brown hair and fiery orange eyes. He was clad in a black uniform, with inbuilt padding that probably hid Kevlar. He had a facemask that he pulled down immediately, revealing a smirk. On his breast was an insignia in the shape of a shield, with a P/Z pattern that proclaimed that he served Team Plasma.

"Darrell." Finn scowled, reaching for a pokéball.

"Don't bother." Darrell pulled a device out of his pocket, waggling it in front of him before putting it back. "Jammed your pokéballs. Can't get your back-up."

"What do you want?" Finn relaxed his hand, moving it away from his pokéball belt.

"I want you to die."

Finn blinked, taken aback by Darrell's savage growl. He knew Darrell didn't like him, but… this was far worse than he had thought even in the worst times. "What?"

"I wish you were dead," Darrel said, venom in his voice. His anger manifested itself physically, flames beginning to flicker at the tips of his fingers. Darrell took a deep breath and crossed his arms, the flames fading. "But Lord Ghetsis and Doctor Cyril would rather have you alive. So I'm going to leave you alive. Just not in good condition."

"Why?" Finn could barely process what he was hearing. "What have I done to you?"

"What have you done to me!?" Darrel snarled, one hand grabbing a pokéball from his own belt as the other balled into a fist. "What haven't you done to me? You ruined my life. You upstaged me at every turn. Your parents gave you everything you wanted, and all mine did was wish that they had you. 'Why can't you be more like the Ferris boy?' 'Why do you always have to get in trouble, the Ferris boy doesn't.' My parents loved the idea of you more than they loved me, and I'm going to make you pay for that."

Darrell held the pokéball in front of himself. "Vulcan. It's time."

From the pokéball emerged a bulky creature, fire burning on its body. Its arms were tube-like, with claws emerging from the ends to act as rudimentary hands. The Pokémon had disproportionately small legs, ending in two-toed feet. The magmortar chuffed as it appeared, its oversized mouth twisting into a smug smirk as it flexed its cannon-arms.

"You remember Vulcan, right?" Darrell asked rhetorically, stepping up next to his pokémon. "My starter. He's evolved a couple times since you last saw him, and Doctor Cyril has made a few… improvements."

"Talos." Finn's voice was almost a whisper.

"Doctor Cyril did say that you'd destroyed some of the last of the Talos serum." Darrell scowled at Finn. "That sounds about right. Breaking things for some moral victory when it could be useful. Fuck you."

Finn took a step back. "Darrell, Team Plasma is kidnapping people-,"

"Do you think I give a shit what happens to stuck-up gym leaders?" Darrell asked rhetorically. "I'm done talking. Vulcan, use fire blast."

The magmortar's claws retracted into its arms, and one of its cannons levelled itself at Finn. A massive ball of fire emerged from Vulcan's hand, hanging for a moment like a droplet of water on a faucet before it unfurled into a five-pointed shape. The attack caught nearby foliage on fire as it rocketed towards Finn.

Athena acted instantly, erecting a king's shield to block the attack. The flames licked at the edge of the spectral barrier for a few moments, sustained by the sheer power behind the fire blast. Finn grabbed Athena's hilt and unsheathed her, snatching her shield out of the air as it fell. Sashes wound up his arm, giving him a comforting sense of connection. Finn dropped into a defensive stance, shield in front of him and sword held parallel to the ground.

"I don't want to fight you, Darrell," Finn said, sending a mental nudge to Athena. Her blade began to charge power.

"Then you'd better start running, because I'm not accepting a surrender." Darrell lit a fireball in one hand.

Before anyone else could act, a dark form with glowing lights on its body dropped out of the sky. Its tentacles began to wriggle and writhe as psychic power radiated off of it. The malamar swung one of its arms, slamming it into Vulcan hard enough to send the magmortar stumbling backwards. The other arm emitted a thin blade of psychic power, slashing at Darrell with unpredictable undulating motions. Darrell was forced to use quick bursts of flame to defend himself, backing slowly away from his assailant.

Lumin turned just enough for one of its yellow eyes to see Finn. "I cannot hold them long. Run."

Finn heeded Lumin's warning and turned heel. With Athena still in his hand, he started running.

"Vulcan, signal beam!"

A spinning, spiraling flash of light shot over Finn's shoulder, hitting a tree and winking out of existence. A multitude of panicked thoughts flashed through Finn's mind. Magmortar couldn't learn that move. That was impossible. Malamar was doubly weak to bug type moves, but magmortar shouldn't have access to any. Was that what Talos had done to enhance Darrell's pokémon?

Another signal beam flashed behind Finn, and Lumin let out a strangled, warbling cry. There was a meaty thwack followed by the sounds of a magmortar in distress, and something flew over Finn's head.

"Apologies. Any more and I would be incapacitated. Such a fate may mean my death." And the shadow was soaring off into the distance, vanishing in a psychic shimmer. Lumin had left, but hopefully he had given Finn enough of a head start.

Finn didn't blame Lumin for leaving. If Darrell wanted Finn dead, then he may very well just kill Lumin if the malamar got in the way.

A fireball hit the ground in front of Finn, erupting into a pillar of fire that Finn quickly dodged around. Three more landed in rapid succession, and it was only thanks to Rath's instincts and Finn's training exercises that he managed to avoid running headfirst into any of them.

There was a flash of pink light and the warbling of psychic energy as Vulcan winked into existence in front of Finn. Athena released the energy she had been charging, shooting a cloud of ghostly energy at the magmortar, blocking its line of sight just long enough to slip into its shadow and-

They couldn't shadow sneak.

Athena had tried, and Finn had used his own fledgling ghost powers to try and help, but something was blocking their ability to meld into shadows. There were only two ways to do that. Someone with the religious or occult know-how, or a powerful enough ghost type.

Most likely both.

He didn't have time to dwell on the terrifying implications of that thought. Finn slid under the magmortar's legs and sprang back up to his feet. As much as he didn't want to, it was time to use head smash. Athena gathered energy in her blade, converting it to a stone casing that collected along her silvery edge. Crystalline formations sprouted out of her blade, hardening into a hammer-like bludgeon. Finn raised Athena over his head and slammed her down on the back of Vulcan's skull with all of his might.

The ensuing shockwave sent both Finn and Vulcan flying. Vulcan slammed face-first into the dirt, laying still on the ground. Finn landed on his back, the wind knocked out of him. Athena still had her sashes wrapped around his arm and her shield was on the ground next to him. The impact had sent dust and dirt flying into the air,

It took a bit for Finn to get his breath back and for the ringing in his ears to stop. Next time, he would convert his skin to metal. That would probably be better. Safer, for sure.

Finn rolled over, pushing himself up and scooping up Athena's shield with his left hand. He looked down at her. She was conscious, if only barely. Her blade was dented and bent now, the recoil of rock head having hurt her badly. There was a reason that Finn avoided recoil moves.

Someone was screaming, and Finn felt something hot hit him in the arm. He blearily turned his head to look at the site of impact. Flames flickered on his jacket, dying out quickly. It may have looked like leather, but clearly his mother had gone out of her way to get him something durable. It wasn't even singed. Finn marveled at it for a moment, trying to figure out where the fire had come from. When a second fireball hurtled past him, Finn finally snapped out of his daze.

"I'LL FUCKING MURDER YOU!"

A ball of fire bigger than Finn was shot through the cloud of dust, causing the air to ripple and boil as it seared a path along the ground. Finn dove out of the way, rolling as he hit the ground in order to get back to his feet quickly. He raised Athena's shield to deflect a spear of fire and winced internally. She was in no condition to take a hit like that. Another fireball hurtled towards him and he scrambled off of the road to avoid it.

"When I'm done, they won't even find the ashes!" Darrell screamed, running in a headlong dash towards Finn. Fire licked along his entire body, singing the ground beneath his feet. Darrell leaped forwards, creating a ball of fire to slam into Finn.

Finn closed his eyes and dropped Athena's shield, raising his arms. Energy channeled along his form as he flexed muscles that didn't exist. Then, with a forceful push, he extended that energy outwards.

There was the unearthly shriek of metal and the sizzling hiss of fire, and Finn opened his eyes to see a barrier of hexagonal shapes floating just beyond his arms. Darrell was firing concentrated steams of fire from his fists, but he was rapidly running out of steam. When he ran out of fire, Darrell pounded his fists on the shield, weakening with each blow.

Panting, Darrell drew back both fists and slammed them both on the barrier. A massive explosion erupted from the point of impact, blowing Darrell backwards and singing the hairs on Finn's arms.

Yet the barrier held, and Finn was unmoved.

Darrell landed at the base of a burnt-out tree. He groaned and shifted, but seemed out of it for a little while. Good. Finn didn't want him dead, but if he burned himself out then it wasn't Finn's problem.

Finn bent down to pick up Athena's shield, brushing soot off of it as he did. When he straightened, he turned and started off away from Oplens again. Only a few steps in and he felt exhausted. King's shield was a technique that required both ghost and steel type power, and just using one of those was enough to wipe Finn out. Both at once and he felt like he was about to faint.

But he held strong, proceeding along to the road again. He brushed off his jacket – not a scratch. Mom really did get the absolute best – and continued on.

He didn't get far before a foreboding feeling overtook him. He went to raise Athena's blade, only to cringe as he remembered how damaged she was. He was on his own.

Something huge and ominous rose from the ground in front of him, its body bloated. Its face was pale and gaunt, human-like but wrong. The black hair atop its head was plastered close to the skull. Its left eye was absent, nothing but a patch of skin where an eye socket should be. The right eye was closed, but something red glowed within. Its torso was bloated and round, with a yellow zig-zag across the stomach and numerous holes showing the void within. Its right arm was oversized, ending in a glove-like hand. Its left arm, though, split just before the elbow into two arms. The upper arm was the same large limb with a glove-hand, but the lower arm was more human-like. It was atrophied, malnourished, and the fingers were long and skeletal. The creature's legs fused above the knee and faded out of existence near the fused ankles. As it rose, the shadows grew deeper and darker around it.

Its eye opened.

The socket was empty, save for a glowing red orb floating within. When it opened its mouth to speak, the red glow reflected off of the back of its mouth.

-"I am sorry, Finnegan."-

Finn swallowed, trying and failing to step back. Its shadow had wrapped around his legs, locking him in place. "Who are you?"

The creature stopped, tilting its head. –"Perhaps it is better you do not know."-

Finn raised Athena's blade, only for one of the massive mitts to wrap around his hand and brush Athena away.

-"I do not wish to harm your pokémon, Finnegan. Nor do I wish to harm you."-

The creature floated even closer, darkness wrapping around Finn as it did. When he tried to struggle, the creature grabbed his left arm and held it away from his body.

-"My orders are to ensure that no information of our presence left the city."- The creature's skeletal hand reached into Finn's pocket and retrieved his phone, tucking it away. –"Cyril ordered me to assist Darrell's attempt to capture you. But Cyril does not hold my allegiance."- The hand entered his other pocket, retrieving his pokédex. –"I have already disabled that malamar, as difficult as it was. Rest assured it is not seriously injured. The few wounds it received will heal within days."-

With Finn's phone and pokedex taken from him, the creature backed up. –"Again, I am sorry. You will receive these when it is too late to warn the gym leader Dracul of our attack. Do not return to Oplens."-

-"May Arceus guide you, child."- The creature drew a symbol over its chest with its human-like hand, beginning to sink into the ground.

"Wait, Mono?" Finn blinked in surprise, finding his limbs working again.

The creature – Mono Numer – paused. Geistom Town's former ghost-type gym leader swallowed. –"Farewell, Finnegan. I hope one day we can meet without my oath forcing my hand."-

Mono vanished into the ground, disappearing entirely.

Finn blinked rapidly for a few moments, then had a sudden realization. He set down Athena's shield and sword, then grabbed her pokéball. "Athena, return."

When the aegislash vanished, Finn stood up and let out a shuddering breath. He would find a safe place to camp far from here, and only then would he let his pokémon out.

The day had only just started, but it was already far more exhausting than it should have been.

O-O-O

Mono watched from the shadows as the boy recalled his aegislash and left.

It was unfortunate, what Finnegan had to go through. If Mono had his way, he wouldn't have to deal with this. But Mono didn't have his way. From how things seemed to be going, he would never have his way again. That oath was one of the worst life decisions Mono had ever made.

Mono turned to the barely conscious form of Darrell. He would be out of it for another few minutes. Perfect.

Mono reached into a hole in his body and retrieved a pokéball. He released the pokémon inside, the white phantump crooning happily as it saw him. Ghost types didn't care about appearances. It was the soul that they recognized. And Autumn would recognize his soul forever, no matter how badly that damnable machine mutilated it.

-"Autumn."- He reached out with his mostly human hand and stroked the side of her wooden head. –"I need something of you."-

When the ghost type made a questioning noise, Mono retrieved Finnegan's pokédex and phone from another pocket in his body. He held them out. –"Follow Finnegan Ferris. Do not let him or his pokémon notice you. When the moon is at its highest, leave them in a place he'll find and get out of there as quickly as you can. Do you understand?"-

Autumn nodded, picking up the two devices. They were large for her tiny arms, but she was stronger than she looked. She vanished into the shadows, carrying out her given task.

Mono returned his attention to Darrell. Only now was he snapping out of his daze. Darrell sat up and shook his head, looking around. When he noticed Mono, he visibly jumped.

"Gah!" Darrell exclaimed, bumping his head on the tree behind him. "Don't do that!"

-"I was merely waiting for you to awaken."- Mono replied, unbothered.

"Well… Don't." Darrell rubbed his head. "What happened?"

-"You overexerted yourself,"- Mono answered. –"Just because you have a newer version of the Sequencer doesn't mean you are without limits."-

"Yeah, whatever." Darrell waved him off, staring into space. "Fuck! Vulcan!"

Darrell started to clamber to his feet, but Mono spoke before he could get far. –"Your magmortar is fine. Unconscious but fine."-

Darrell slumbed back against the tree. "You were here, right?"

-"Yes."- Mono knew where this was going.

"Why didn't you do anything?" Darrell asked, venom in his voice.

-"It is not my duty to-,"-

"Doctor Cyril told you-,"

-"I am not Cyril's servant, boy."- Mono loomed over Darrell, exerting the pressure that dusknoir naturally exuded. –"I do not care what Cyril wants me to do. I only follow Ghetsis because I have no choice. I do not want to be here. Do you understand, boy? I am only assisting Team Plasma because I have to. Understood?"-

Darrell recoiled, eyes wide. He nodded meekly, shaking from fear.

Mono took pity on the boy, retracting his pressure. –"Now then. I have preparations to make for tonight. You have clearly failed your mission, so you had best return to Oplens for your part."-

"Y-yeah…" Darrell swallowed, still shivering.

Mono didn't even look at Darrell again, simply sinking into the ground.

He was not looking forward to tonight.

A/N:

Lost power for a couple of days part way through writing this chapter, but I think I'm happy with the end result. I've managed to better characterize both Darrell and Mono, two characters that I always intended to be more complicated than they appeared at their introduction. Also the first real description of a human/pokémon hyprid.

I want to know what you guys think about all of this. You don't have to leave a review - I appreciate my silent readers as much as my reviewing readers - but reviews allow me to know what to emphasize and focus on.

Next chapter is an interlude.